Methods and devices for making a preparatory incision longitudinally of poultry legs are generally known. Document EP 0 594 934 A2 for example discloses a device for making a preparatory incision longitudinally of a chicken leg having an internal bone structure surrounded by meat. The device includes elongate linear guides, a cutting unit associated with the elongate linear guides for translating movement lengthwise thereof. The cutting unit includes a cutting knife mounted for movement between a first position and a second position in a first plane. A conveyor is arranged for transporting chicken leg through a path coincident with the cutting unit. The device further includes a drive mechanism for moving the cutting unit lengthwise of the elongate linear guides, and for moving the cutting knife for performing the preparatory incision on the animal extremity part in the cutting unit. A drawback of such a device is that it is not very accurate and can only approximate a perfect cut.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to propose an improved method and device for longitudinally cutting poultry legs along a contour defined by an inwardly extending bone structure. In a more general sense it is thus an object of the invention to overcome or reduce at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art. It is also an object of the present invention to provide alternative solutions which are less cumbersome in assembly and operation and which moreover can be made relatively inexpensively. Alternatively it is an object of the invention to at least provide a useful alternative.